BEKO ECO WMB 81445 LW Washing Machine Review

Washing machines and I do not generally get on.  The thing is I buy a new washing machine and I use it; a lot, and then slowly but surely, it stops working how I would like it to and the lovely local repair man shakes his head in that 'no, it's too expensive to repair' way and my mother does her whole 'they don't make things like they used to' speech and then the whole sorry process begins again. 

My old  washing machine was starting to struggle and luckily for me the lovely people at Appliances Online came to the rescue and now I am a not so much of a 'stressy mummy' as I have a lovely new Beko ECO WMB 81445 LW washing machine sitting in my kitchen.

I have had the washing machine for a week now and have done a fair bit of washing already as I wash at least once a day, everyday, and so far I am impressed.  I have very high expectations from a washing machine apart from an ability to wash of course, so how does the Beko ECO WMB 81445 LW live up to my very high expectations.

Firstly, it needs to be family friendly.

In a house with four active and sporty children, who spend most of their time out and about getting filthy, I have a lot of washing.  My husband also makes a large amount on his own and that is without me.  Then there are the constant stream of 'house' washing.  As I said, the washing machine is constantly whirring away some days, so one feature I particularly liked about this machine is that it has an 8kg load capacity which is brilliant as I can fit lots in and I have definitely noticed that I am doing fewer loads which is rather nice.  What this also means though is that you can fit larger items in such as duvets, which is also really useful.

Another factor in the family friendly stakes is noise.  I like a machine that gently whirs in the background even when spinning.  I do often put a load on at night time after the children have gone to bed; especially in the summer when I want to hang the washing out early the next morning. What I don't want is a noisy machine with a loud spin that is going to wake the children up.  This washing machine is very quiet and even on the highest spin, it is not intrusive at all and no children were woken up in the writing of this review.

 A successful machine also needs to have a child lock.  When I say child lock, I don't just mean on the door, but also to lock the control panel.  When the machine first arrived, I was concerned that there wasn't one, but I was very relieved when I read that there was.  A, like a lot of children I'm sure, has a strange fascination with electronic devices of any kind and loves pressing buttons.  When your washing machine is mid cycle, there is nothing more annoying than little hands pressing a few buttons and the whole thing stopping.  It is possible for the On/Off button to be pressed, but if the machine does get switched off while the child lock is activated, it will just carry on where it left off when it is switched back on.  Genius.

There are some interesting programmes on this machine.  There are all the programmes that you would expect from a standard machine, however, there are programmes such as one for Baby and Toddler clothing which has a longer heating time and an extra rinse which provides a higher level of hygiene and this setting can be good for anyone who suffers with allergies.  Another good one for this house is a Sports programme which covers a good fifty per cent of my wash load.  There are programmes for Shirts which I will be showing my husband how to use and also a Duvet setting which will come definitely come in handy.  There are also some auxiliary functions which enable quicker washes, an extra rinse, anti-crease and even a pet hair removal.

All of the loads that I have done already, have come out really clean and thanks to the good spin speed, not too wet which has been great during these wet days where I have had to use the tumble dryer and airer to get the washing dry.  The machine does have an impressive 1400 RPM spin speed, but the programmes I mainly use have a 1200RPM and that has been brilliant.

Secondly, it needs to be easy to use.

It is no secret that electrical appliances do not generally get on.  Well, if it works, easy to use and there are no complications, then we will have a very happy and fruitful relationship. When the ECO WMB 81445 arrived, I did look at the controls with with a little concern, but it is absolutely simple to operate; even the children could do it (if it didn't have an excellent child lock!)  You press the On/Off button to switch the machine on, turn the dial to whichever programme you need and press Start.  Couldn't be simpler.  The control panel shows you the time the programme will take, the maximum temperature and recommended spin speed for your selected programme, but you can easily alter both if needed.

The display shows you how the wash is progressing and how much time is left until the end of the cycle and if you realise you need to change the settings, it is easy to pause the machine and alter them or to cancel the programme altogether.

So, the ECO WMB 81445 is  a really good, easy to use washing machine that is very family friendly.  I have been really impressed with it.  It does exactly what it needs to and more.  It looks nice and another big plus is that it has a A+++ energy efficiency grade which coupled with a sensor that detects the amount of washing and adjusts the water level accordingly, means that this clever machine also uses less water and electricity.  I think it is a great washing machine and it is great value for money.

Appliances Online provided me with this machine free of charge.  All opinions given are entirely my own.